This course gives you easy access to the invaluable learning techniques used by experts in art, music, literature, math, science, sports, and many other disciplines. We’ll learn about the how the brain uses two very different learning modes and how it encapsulates (“chunks”) information. We’ll also cover illusions of learning, memory techniques, dealing with procrastination, and best practices shown by research to be most effective in helping you master tough subjects.
Using these approaches, no matter what your skill levels in topics you would like to master, you can change your thinking and change your life. If you’re already an expert, this peep under the mental hood will give you ideas for: turbocharging successful learning, including counter-intuitive test-taking tips and insights that will help you make the best use of your time on homework and problem sets. If you’re struggling, you’ll see a structured treasure trove of practical techniques that walk you through what you need to do to get on track. If you’ve ever wanted to become better at anything, this course will help serve as your guide.
This course can be taken independent of, concurrent with, or prior to, its companion course, Mindshift. (Learning How to Learn is more learning focused, and Mindshift is more career focused.)
To join the fully translated Portuguese version of the course, visit: https://www.coursera.org/learn/aprender
To join the fully translated Spanish version of the course, visit: https://www.coursera.org/learn/aprendiendo-a-aprender
To join the fully translated Chinese version of the course, visit: https://www.coursera.org/learn/ruhe-xuexi

EB

I found this course incredibly useful and practical. It has not only helped me better understand the process of learning but it has also given me valuable tools in how to optimize my learning process.

JS

Aug 14, 2017

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I really appreciate the time these guys invested in this course and am willing to take it again if they re-explain some topics in order to refresh some things that with time haven't stayed in my mind.

From the lesson

Chunking

In this module, we’re going to be talking about chunks. Chunks are compact packages of information that your mind can easily access. We’ll talk about how you can form chunks, how you can use them to improve your understanding and creativity with the material, and how chunks can help you to do better on tests. We’ll also explore illusions of competence in learning, the challenges of overlearning, and the advantages of interleaving.

Taught By

Dr. Barbara Oakley

Dr. Terrence Sejnowski

Francis Crick Professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Transcript

In this video, we're going to answer the question, "What is a chunk?" When you first look at a brand new concept, it sometimes doesn't make much sense as shown by the jumbled puzzle pieces here. Chunking is the mental leap that helps you unite bits of information together through meaning. The new logical hole makes the chunk easier to remember and also makes it easier to fit the chunk into the larger picture of what you're learning. Just memorizing a fact without understanding a context doesn't help you understand what's really going on or how the concept fits together with other concepts you're learning. Notice there are no interlocking puzzle edges on the puzzle piece to help you fit into other pieces. We talked earlier about working memory and how those four slots of working memory appear to hang out in the part of your brain right behind your forehead known as the prefrontal cortex. When you're focusing your attention on something, it's almost as if you have an octopus, the octopus of attention that slips its tentacles through those four slots of working memory when necessary to help you make connections to information that you might have in various parts of your brain. Remember, this is different from the random connections of the diffuse mode. Focusing your attention to connect parts of the brain to tie together ideas is an important part of the focused mode of learning. It is also often what helps get you started in creating a chunk. Interestingly, when you're stressed, your attentional octopus begins to lose the ability to make some of those connections. This is why your brain doesn't seem to work right when you're angry, stressed, or afraid. Chunks are pieces of information, neuro-scientifically speaking, that are bound together through meaning or use. You can take the letters P, O, and P and bind them together into one conceptual easy-to-remember chunk, the word "pop." It's like converting a cumbersome computer file into a zip file. Underneath that single "pop" chunk, is a symphony of neurons that have learned to sing in tune with one another. The complex neural activity that ties together or simplifying abstract chunks of thought, whether those thoughts pertain to acronyms, ideas, or concepts, are the basis of much of Science, Literature, and Art. Let's say you want to learn how to speak Spanish. If you're a child hanging around the Spanish-speaking household, learning Spanish is as natural as breathing. Your mother says "Mama" and you say "Mama" right back to her. Your neurons fire and wire together in a shimmering mental loop cementing the relationship in your mind between the sound "Mama" and your mother's smiling face. That scintillating neural loop is one memory trace which is connected of course to many other related memory traces. The best programs for learning language such as those at the Defense Language Institute where I learned Russian, incorporate structured practice that includes repetition and wrote focused mode learning of the language along with more diffuse-like free speech with native speakers. The goal is to embed the basic words and patterns so you can speak as freely and creatively in your new language as you do in your native language. As it turns out, one of the first steps towards gaining expertise in academic topics is to create conceptual chunks, mental leaps that unite scattered bits of information through meaning. The concept of neural "chunks" also applies to sports, music, dance, really just about anything that humans can get good at. Basically, a chunk means a network of neurons that are used to firing together so you can think a thought or perform an action smoothly and effectively. Focused practice and repetition, the creation of strong memory traces, helps you to create chunks. The path to expertise is built little by little. Small chunks can become larger and all of the expertise serves to underpin more creative interpretations as you gradually become a master of the material. In other words, as you'll see later, practice and repetition in building chunks aren't all you need to become a truly creative master of the material you're learning. Chunking helps your brain run more efficiently. Once you chunk an idea, a concept, or an action, you don't need to remember all the little underlying details. You've got the main idea, the chunk, and that's enough. It's like getting dressed in the morning. You just think one simple thought like "I'll get dressed," but it's amazing when you realize the complex swirl of underlying activities that take place with that one simple chunk of thought. Next, we'll talk about how you can form a chunk. I'm Barbara Oakley. Thanks for learning how to learn.

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